A rule passed by the House Rules and Procedure committee Wednesday could set the stage for Wyoming legislators to use electronic push-button voting at the Legislature.
The committee passed a rule that will establish more roll call votes if a bill sponsored by state Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, becomes law. That bill would initiate an electronic, push-button voting system to be used for all roll call votes. It comes with a price tag of $250,000.
Bear said one of the major reasons for the effort is to bring more transparency to voting at the Legislature.
The rule passed Wednesday would add a mandatory vote for first reading of a bill, known as committee of the whole.
What Do They Do Now?
Currently, the Legislature only does roll call votes for a third reading of a bill or if it’s called for by a member of the chamber.
Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, expressed concerns about being tied to her desk and unable to take constituent phone calls out of fear of missing a roll call vote.
Bear said the committee of a whole votes should take precedence over all duties and believes the rule will require more focus from legislators.
Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, said he has no problem doing more roll call votes but doesn’t like the idea of initiating a push-button system. He proposed an amendment to remove the push-button technology while keeping the expansion of recorded votes for the upcoming session, which failed.
An amendment was passed initiating the expanded voting that would go into effect immediately for the current session if Bear’s bill passes.
Rep. Ken Clouston, R-Gillette, said although he appreciates the traditions of the Legislature, he encouraged the Management Council to take up the change and see how it likes it.
Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, said there are unanswered questions about how a legislator who goes to the bathroom during a vote would have a vote counted.
Bear said the House Speaker would make this determination.
Legislative Service Office Director Matt Obrecht said centuries of parliamentary procedure dictate that anyone not present for a vote is considered as an “aye.”
He said those who have technical difficulties in attempting to vote through the electronic system can manually bring their votes to the chief clerk.
Budget Offsets
Bear also proposed giving the Appropriations Committee power to set a finite limit of spending in the biennial budget that would have to be honored by other lawmakers when drafting the budget.
Anyone who wanted an appropriation would have to find an equal sized reduction in the budget to make up for it. Any appropriation exceeding the budget ceiling would have to be addressed in an individual bill outside the budget.
Bear has brought this proposal numerous times before and explained to Cowboy State Daily he sees it as no different than setting a household budget.
“There’s a certain amount you have that you can’t go above,” he said. “It’s just like reaching the credit limit on your credit card.”
The proposal was rejected on a 10-2 vote by the committee.
Harshman, the longest serving member of the House, spoke against it, saying it gives too much power to this committee.
Rep. Bob Davis, R-Baggs, agreed and asked how the Legislature would compensate for inflation if the rule was put into place.
“We’re elected, we’re adults, we should be able to manage this without putting in these artificial barriers,” Davis said.
Provenza said due to six of the seven House members of this committee also sitting on Rules, it would be inappropriate to take a vote on the issue and thought it would be better to bring it directly to the House to vote on. As a point of compromise, Bear abstained from voting on his proposal.
Bear said he still plans to bring his proposal back before the entire House and expects it to have a favorable chance of passing. If it does, it would play a significant factor in next year’s budget discussions.
Privacy
Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland, proposed a rule that prohibits a legislator, legislative staff member or guest of a legislator to use audio or video recording equipment to record the private communications of a legislator conducted on the floor of the House when not in session, in the House legislative lounge room or while attending committee meetings without the consent of a party to the communication.
The proposal was defeated 7-5.
Lawley pointed to the fact most legislators aren’t given an office at the Capitol, so their legislative desks on the chamber floor serve as their personal offices.
“Our desk is our work place,” Lawley said.
Bear questioned how this would interact with the public taking audio and video while the House in session, and how the public would be informed of this rule.
Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, questioned why the rule would apply to committee meetings. Lawley said this is because she’s often approached by members of the public after committee meetings.
Obrecht said a member who felt that the rule was violated would inform the Speaker, who could conduct an investigation as he or she sees appropriate. A guest could be suspended and a member of the Legislature could receive disciplinary action.
He said there has never been a formal complaint filed on this type of issue before to his knowledge.
Rep. Ken Pendergraft, R-Sheridan, said he shares Lawley’s concerns but worries that it would prevent visitors from taking photos on the floor of the House.
In Wyoming, you cannot record a conversation unless you are party to that conversation or have been given consent by a member of the conversation to record.
Because of this, Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, said there already is a legal avenue to pursue this issue. Obrecht said due to the act happening in the course of the Legislature, there could be some legal immunity involved.
Regardless of state law, Provenza said lawmakers should hold each other to a higher standard that doesn’t accept clandestine recording of one another and setting each other up for traps. She suggested an amendment removing guests from the rules.
“This body only really functions when we trust each other,” she said.
Obrecht clarified that the Speaker could still take action.
Bill And Speech Limits
Provenza brought a proposal to limit the number of bills a lawmaker can bring in one session to five. There have been more than 600 bills already drafted for the current session, a significant number of which will die simply because there isn’t enough time to address all of them in the 37-day session.
Rep. Bob Wharff, R-Evanston, said lawmakers are the victims of their own motivation in bringing a mass quantity of bills because they must suffer the possibility that most of them won’t pass into law.
“If you bring 30 bills, they’re probably not going to talk about very many of them,” Wharff said.
He also said just because a bill doesn’t pass into law on the first go-round doesn’t mean it’s forever dead and can’t come back in the future.
No vote was taken after Provenza said it was obvious her proposal wasn’t going to pass.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
